Adjustable feed shelves for paper handling machinery



July 6, 1948.

' V. E. PRATT ET AL ADJUSTABLE FEED SHELVES FOR PAPER HANDLING MACHINERY2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 6, 1945- HWY W. m N PG flv 0 V. T W T R A uER o M v July 6, 1948.

Filed Oct. 6, 1945 V. E. PRATT ET AL ADJUSTABLE FEED SHELV'ES FOR PAPERHANDLING MACHINERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS VERNEUR E PRATT By GEORGEF GRAY A r TORNEVS Patented July 6, 1948 ADJUSTABLE-FEED SHEINE-Snone-Area HANDLING MACHINERY} Verneur E. Pratt and George .F. Gray,

Norwalk, Conn.

Application-October 6, 1945, Serial No. 620,708

This invention relates. to adjustable feed shelves for paper handlingmachinery, and has for an object. the provision of an adjustable feedShelf for flow cameras such as disclosedin the copending applicationSerialNumber 507,939; filed October 28, 1943, entitled:Photographic-devices and method of operating same, but may be used inany device where it is desirable to. feednapers of different widths toconveyor belts or the like to be photographed, printed, stamped,orprocessed in any manner in the machine to which the feed shelf isattached.

Another object is to provide a feed shelf of the character describedwhich is free from all transverse joints or cracks in which the endsofpapers-may catch during the feeding Operation.

A further object is to provide a feed shelf that is easily adjustable totake papers of any width.

Other objects andadvantages will appear from a perusal of thefollowingspecification and accompanying drawings,- where by way of illustrationthe invention is shown as applied to a flow camera as disclosed in theaforesaid copending "application. It will be understood, however, thatthe showing herein is not limitative, the invention being as defined inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View looking down on the feed shelf constituting thisinvention;

' Figure 2 is a transverse cross-sectional View on the line 2, 2 Figure1;

Figure 3 is a transverse view partly in section on theline 3, 3 Figure2;

Figure 4 is a side view of the feed shelf shown in the preceding figuresattached to a flow c mer as described in the aforesaid copendingapplication; and

Figure 5 is a detail view of the snap fasteners on the inner ends of theshelf whereby same is secured to the device or machine with which it isused.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral l denotes a support having forwardlyextending ears ll, [2 adapted to fit into slotted plates !3, one on eachside of the device to which the feed shelf is attached and securedthereto by welding or in any suitable manner.

Each of said ears has a. snap fastener comprised of a fiat spring Msecured to the ear at l and having at its free end a plunger l6 adaptedto enter a hole in the side walls I! of the device such as the flowcamera generally indicated by the numeral Hi.

The support In carries upon its upper face the transverse slidingmembers I9, 20, 2t, 22.

fi claims. (01; 271-86).

The slides t9, til-.have secured thereto in any suitable. manner thechute member Y23 and the slides til, 21 have the chute member 24likewise secu ed h r The bottom. portions of the chute members arecorrugated as shown at 25 and nestv one within th other as best seen inFigure 2. This forms a'horizontal .feedingtable the corrugations runningt e direction in which material is fed thereover to the device [8.

The sliding members or arms id, 428, 2!. 22 are slotted as shown at 26,,Figure 3,, where they extend below the chute m m s- Tw of t es arms, 19and 21 are shown so. slotted in Figure 3.) Bolts 27, 28 extend throughthese Slots and the support 10. Wins nuts 29; aiiare provided for thethreaded outer ends of the bolts 2'! to secure the-parts together ashereinafter described.

The chute is assemblodby placing the parts to.- gether as shown inFigure 2. The cars ll, [2 are then pushed into the slots in plates 13and the plungers'lfi of the snap fasteners on these ears enter the holesin the side walls I! of the device. Thus thechute ismounted thereon.

Thechute members are now adjusted to take napersQfiiny width up to thecapacity of the deviCfifis they may be moved from the extrementerposition shown in dotted lines, 23o, 24.0,, Figure 1 to the innerposition shown in solid lines. This is accomplished by raising themember 23 sothat the corrugations in the bottom thereof no longer meshwith the corrugations in member-'24, and then, 23' and24 are shiftedbodily to thedesired position and clamped by bolts 21,25 and: uts 9, 3B.

The outer ends or horizontal ears 3|; 32 of the chute members extendinto the device l8 as best seen in Figure 4 to guide the papers fed intothe chute to the mechanism of device l8 which, in the case of the flowcamera described in the aforesaid copending application, is the belts33, 34.

To detach the device it is only necessary to pull outwardly on the knobs35 to release plungers l6 and thereby release the chute from the devicel8.

It will be observed from the foregoing description and the drawings thatthis improved chute has no transverse cracks or slides for papers tocatch. The corrugated bottom facilitates the feeding of papers as thepapers rest on the tops 36 of the ridges therein. This is an advantageover chutes having a smooth bottom against which the papers often lieand stick because of static electricity and for other reasons, The

24 can be moved to vary the width of the chute.

However, by making both chute members adjustable, papers may be fed tothe feeder belts at any point transverse the belts.

By corrugations is meant any conformation having no transverse cracks,points or ridges that may interfere with the smooth feeding of paperlengthwise therealong. It will be observed that the feed shelf can beattached and removed from the machine or device i8 without in any waydisturbing the adjustment of the width of the feed chute formed by themembers 23, 24.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, a support, corrugated membersnested one within the other to form a feed shelf having opposedlongitudinal sides formed by the upturned edges of said members, andmeans comprising clamping members secured to said corrugated members andunderlying said corrugated members and extending transversely thereoffor securing said corrugated members to said support, said corrugationsrunning lengthwise of the upper surfaces of said members whereby fiatsheets fed thereover rest upon the apexes of said corrugations and areheld out of contact with the depressed spaces therebetween, wherebysticking of the sheets to the support is prevented.

2. In a device of the character described, corrugated members adapted tonest one within the other to form a feeding shelf having opposed1ongitudinal sides formed by the upturned edges of said members, saidcorrugations running in the direction in which material is fed thereoverwhereby fiat sheets fed by said support rest upon the apexes of saidcorrugations and are held out of contact with the depressed spacestherebetween whereby sticking of the sheets to the support is prevented,arms extending below said members and secured thereto and underlying thebottom surfaces thereof extending transverse said members, and means forsecuring said arms together whereby said members may be laterally spacedapart in various adjusted positions with some of said corrugationsnested and so held togather by said means.

3. In a device of the character described, a support, clamping meanscarried thereby and corrugated members forming a. feeding tableoverlying said support and adaptedto be clamped thereto by said means invarious positions thereon whereby the width of said feeding table may bealtered, said corrugations being nested the while, said corrugationsrunning in the direction in which material is fed over said table andbeing adapted to support flat sheets upon the apexes of saidcorrugations while said sheets are fed .therealong.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said supporthas meansindependent of said corrugated members for attaching same to a machineWith which said device is to be used to position said corrugated memberswith the corrugations extending towards the machine.

5. The device as claimed in claim 3,,wherein said support has means forattaching same to a machine including ears extending from the main bodythereof, and said corrugated members have extending ears adapted toguide material fed along said corrugated members and into a machineadjacent said ears.

6. In a device of the character described, a chute comprising twosections of corrugated material adapted to overlap and nest in thecorrugations whereby the width of said chute may be adjusted, means foradjusting the width of said chute comprising a pair of members one ofeach being secured to one of said sections and underlying same, one ofsaid members extending below the other to cause some of the corrugationsof each section of said chute to mutually engage, whereby the width ofsaid chute may be varied.

VERNEUR E. PRATT. GEORGE E. GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 708,082 Sackett Sept, 2, 1902827,349 Converse July 31, 1906 1,190,974 Arey July 11, 1916 1,212,524Lucas Jan. 16, 1917 1,872,945 Hebig Aug. 23, 1932 2,302,067 Spiess Nov.17, 1942 2,378,185 Chatterton June 12, 1945

